Display apparatus.



No. 635,030. Patented flat. l7, I899.

H. ALTSHUL.

DISPLAY APPARATUS.

(Application filed Nov. 22, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets8heat l,

K WITNESSES:

9 INVENTOH Ell/y filly/m5 A; ATTOH/VEK. 1

No. 635,030. Patented Oct. I7, I899.

w H. ALTSHUL.

DISPLAY APPARATUS.

A lication filed mm. 22, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

AM A WITNESSES INVENTOH g /m, flzmw l iJrrno STATES PATENT tries.

IlENRY-ALTSHUL, OF NEW YORK, Y.

DISPLAY APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 635,030, dated October 17, 1899..

' Application filed November 22, 1898. Serial No. 697,187. (No model.)

To a whonttt may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY ALTSHUL, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Display Apparatus,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to improvements in display apparatus, and has for its object more particularly to provide a simple and efficient apparatus wherein the advertisements or notices are carried upon an apron working upon rollers which are rotated by the action of the car-wheels and whereby the apron carrying the advertisements or notices will, upon being completely wound up upon one of said rollers, be automatically caused to reverse the direction of its movement and be wound up upon the other of said rollers.

The objects above set forth 1 am enabled to attain by means of my invention, which consists in the novel details of construction, and in the combination, connection, and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter more fully described and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accom an in drawin s, formin apron-rollers, showing the cam-groove therein covered and preparatory to uncovering.

' Fig. 4 is a viewsiniilar to Fig. 3, showing the cam-groove therein uncovered and preparatory to re-covering. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of the end portion of one of said apron-rollers, showing the cam-groove-thererollers are journaled, showing the manner of their securement therein.

In said drawings, 10 designates a suitable casinghaving a hinged front 11 provided with a central transparent. section 12, through which the advertisements or other notices are visible. lVithin said casing 10, upon the in= ner sides thereof, are arranged the oppo sitely-located supports 13, having inwardlyprojecting studs 14-. upon their vertical portions, and 15 denotes a rectangular carriage provided near the upper and lower ends of its-vertical portions with slots 16,into which extend the studs 14 of the supports 13. In the front of the vertical portions of said carriage l5, near'the upper and lower ends there* of, are provided rectangular recesses 17', having ribs 18 upon their horizontal surfaces and removable inolosing sections 19, provided with screw fastening devices 20, and near the middle of the vertical portions of said carriage 15 are provided slots 21, through which passes the shaft 22, supported at its ends in bearings 23, secured to the inner sides of the casing '10, and uponsaid shaft 22, within the limits of the carriage 15, are fixed, in the order named beginning at the left, a large frictional gear-wheel 24, provided with a rubber facing on its periphery, a pulley 25, and a large frictional gear-wheel 26, corresponding in size with the gear-wheel 24 and likewiseprovided with a rubber facing.

The recesses 17 of the carriage 15 are adapted to receive and support boxes 27, in which are journaled the shaft 28, carrying within the limits of the carriage 15 the apron-rollers 29 and the frictional gear-wheels 30, provided upon their peripheries with rubber f'acings and adapted for contact with the large frictional gear-wheels 2a and 2G, and upon the outer ends of said shafts 28, withoutthe lim its of the carriage, are fixed pulleys 31', over which passes a belt 32.

The rollers 29 are each provided near one of their ends with cam-grooves 33, which extend around said rollers for about one-quarter 37 of the strips 36, whereby'to hold said strips vIIO 36 attached to the rollers 29 and permit of the same and the apron attached thereto being wound up upon said rollers in either direction.

39 denotes a strip of canvas or cloth adapted to receive advertisements, which strip 39 after passing over the rollers 40, supported in bearings 41, has its ends fastened to the edges of the flexible strips 36.

42 denotes a belt-tightener mounted upon a shaft 43, the ends of which are adjustably supported in bearings 44, and 45 denotes a retarding device whereby the speed of the apparatus maybe regulated, comprising a roller 46, adapted to contact with the peripheries of the gear-wheels 24 and 26 and mounted upon a shaft 47, the ends of which are adjustably supported in bearings 48.

Arranged within the casing above the top of the carriage 15 is a shaft 49, supported in bearings 50 on the inner side of the casing 10, said shaft 49 having a pawl 51 fixed thereon adapted to engage an n pwardly-projeoting loop 52 at the top of the carriage 15, and a rearwardly-projecting arm 53 likewise fixed upon said shaft 49 to the side of the pawl 51. To the rear of the carriage 15, slightly above the upper apron-roller 29, is a shaft 54, supported in bearings 55, having fixed thereon a pawl 56, the forward end of which is adapted to engage with the cam-groove 33 in said upper apron-roller 29-and its rear end pivotally connected with the end of the arm'53 aforesaid by a link 57.

58 denotes a Y-shaped support, the forward or bifurcated end of which is supported upon a shaft 59, mounted in bearings 60, provided at the sides of the casing near its front. Intermediate its forward and rear ends lsaid support 58 is provided with outwardly-projecting studs 61, which extend into slots 62 in the lower projecting ends of the carriage 15, and at its rear end said support 58.is provided with a circular aperture 63 and in front of said aperture with slots 64 and 66 denotes a rod extending through the circular aperture 63 of the support 58, said rod 66 having its upper end supported in a lateral bearing 67and its lowerend guided in asocket 68. 69 denotes a collar secured upon said rod 66 below the rear end of the support 58, and 70 denotes a spiral spring disposed upon said rod 66 intermediate the collar 69 and the socket 68. v

To the rear of and slightly above the lower apron-roller 29 is a shaft 71, supported in bearings 72, carrying thereon a pawl 73, adapted for engagement with the cam-groove 33 in the lower apron-roller 29. Near the middle of said shaft 71 is fixed a forwardlyprojectingarm 74, and (5 denotes a be] l-cran'k supported upon a shaft 76, mounted in bearings 77, said bell-crank 75 having a locking dog at the end of its vertical member adapted to extend through the slot 64 in the rear end of the support 58 to engage and hold said rear end, and the end of its horizontal member pivotally connected with the arm 74 on the shaft 71 by a link 78.

To the rear of the shaft 22 is supported in bearings 79 a shaft 80, having fixed thereon rubber-faced frictional gear-wheels 81, adapted to engage the gear-wheels 24 and 26 on the shaft 22, and near the center of said shaft 80, between the gear-wheels 81, is fixed a pinion 82, meshing with a large gear-wheel 83, carried upon the shaft 84, and denotes a cam fixed upon said shaft 84, near the middle thereof, adapted to contact with the end of the rod 66 and depress the same to permit the carriage 15 to drop.

Power is communicated from the car-axle to the main shaft 22 by the belt 86, passing over a pulley on the car-axle and the pulley 87 on the shaft 88, and thence by the belt 89, passing over the pulley 25 on the main shaft 22 and the pulley 90 on the shaft 88, said pulley 90 being situated directly behind the pulley 25 on the shaft 22.

The operation is as follows: At the outset it must be observed that the main shaft and gears fixed thereon for imparting motion to the apron-rollers is stationarythat is to say, it has not lateralor vertical m'ovementwhile the carriage 15, carrying the rollers 29, is capable of vertical movement. If then we assume the apparatus to be in operation, movement will be imparted to the main shaft 22 by the pulleys 25 and 90, belt 89, and the pulley 87, belt 86 passing over a pulley on the car-axle, and cause the frictional gear-wheels 24 and 26 to be rotated, transmitting movement to the smaller gear-wheels 30 on the shafts 28 of the apron-rollers, and the apron 39 to travel in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 2, and be wound up upon the upper apron-roller 29. As soon as the apron 39 and the flexible strip 36 have been completely unwound from the lower roller 29 the strip 36 will expose the cam-groove '33 therein and permit the pawl 73 to drop into the same, thereby depressing the arm 74, rod 78, bellcrank 75 and releasing the locking-dog at the end of its vertical member of its engagement with the rear end of the support 58,\vhich support will then be projected upward by the action of the spring 70 and in so doing raise the carriage l5sufficiently to bring thegear-wheels 30 on the lower apron-roller shaft 28 into engagement with the large gear-wheels 24 and 26 on the shaft 22 and move the gear-wheels 30 of the upper apron-roller shaft out of engagement with said large gear-wheels 24 and 26 and cause the pawl 51 to engage the loop 52 and hold the carriage 15 to its raised position. As soon as this has occurred the apron 39 will begin to wind up upon the lower roller 29 in the direction indicated at Fig. 4 and the flexible strip 36 to cover the cam-groove 33 in said roller with its first complete revolution and permit the pawl 73 to ride over the same. At about the same time the gear-wheel 81 in rotating will impart movement to the gear 83 in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, through the pinion 82 and cause the cam to depress the rod 66, permit the support 58 to drop, and the rear end thereof be engaged by the dog of the bell-crank 75. The cam 85 will thereafter continue to revolve freely. When the apron 39 is again completely unwound from the upper roller 29, the cam-groove 33 therein will be again exposed, permit the end of the pawl 56 to drop into the same, raise the link 57, and release the pawl 51 of its engagemeut with the loop 52 and permit the carriage 15 to drop and assume the position indicated at Fig. 2 and the apron 39 be again wound upon the upper roller 2.). As soon as the lower roller is again un wound the operation first described will be repeated, and so on.

It will be observed that any desired n umber of the apparatus may be employed and arranged to operate side byside and that if it is desired to permit any thereof to remain at rest in order to expose a single sign or notice upon the apron 39 it simply becomes necessary to throw off the belt 89 passing over the pulley 25 and 90.

Without limiting myself to the details of construction, which maybe varied within the Scope of the invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination witha casing of a main shaft permanently supported therein, gear- Wheels fixed upon said shaft, means for operating the same, a carriage supported within said casing adapted to move vertieallytherein, shafts removably journaled in said carriage having gear-wheels fixed thereon adapted for engagement with the gear-wheels on the main shaft, rollers carried upon said shafts intermediate the gear-wheels, an apron carried by said rollers, and means for actuating the carriage whereby to simultaneously move the gear-wheels of one of the apron-roller shafts out of engagement and the gear-wheels of the other apron-roller shaft into engagement with the gear-wheels on the. main shaft substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a casing of a main shaft permanently supported therein, gearwheels fixed upon said shaft, means for operating the same, a carriage supported within said casing adapted to move vertically therein,shafts removably journaled in said carriage above and below the main shaft, said shafts having gear-wheels fixed thereon adapted for engagement with the gear-wheels on the main shaft, rollers carried upon said shafts intermediate the gear-wheels, an apron carried by said rollers, and means for raising and lowering said carriage whereby to simultaneously move the gear-wheels of one of the apronroller shafts'out of engagement with, and the gear-wheels of the other apron-roller shaft into engagement with the gear-wheels of the main shaft and reverse the movement of the apron, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with a casing, of a mainroller adjustably supported adapted for corn tact with said gear-wheels, mean-s for rotating said main shaft, a carriage supported within said casing adapted to move vertically there in, a loop projecting from the top of said carriage, shafts removably journaled in said car riage above and below the main shaft, said shafts having pulleys fixed .upon their projecting ends, a belt passing over the same, gear-wheels fixed upon said shafts adapted for engagement with the gear-wheels on the main shaft, rollers carried upon said shafts intermediate the gear-wheels, cam-grooves arranged in said rollers near the ends thereof, an apron carried by said rollers, a shaft supported above the carriage, a pawl fixed thereon adapted to engage the loop at the topof the carriage, an arm fixed upon said shaft, a pawl pivotally supported adjacent to the upper apron-roller adapted to engage the camgroove in said upper apron-roller, a linlr connecting the rear end of said last-mentioned pawl and the end of the arm aforesaid, a support pivotally mounted and connected with the lower ends of the carriage, means for depressing the free end of said support, a bellcrank supported adjacent to the free end of said support having a dog at 'one of its ends adapted to engageand hold the free end of said support to its depressed position, and a shaft supported to the rear of and adjacent to the lower apron-roller having a pawl fixed thereon adapted to engage the cam-groove in said lower apron-roller,an arm also fixed upon said shaft, and a link connecting the rear end of the pawl with one end of the bell-crank,

substantially as specified.

4. In an apparatus of the character specified, the carriage 15, support 58 therefor, and the main shaft 22 having gear-wheels 2a and 26 thereon in combination with a verticallymovable rod, means forsupporting the same, a collar fixed upon said rod, a spring disposed upon said rod intermediate the collar and the support at its lower end, a shaft having a pinion fixed thereon and gear-wheels adapted for engagement with the gear-wheels 24 and 26, and a shaft having a gearovheel fixed thereon in gear with the pinion, aforesaid, and a cam adapted to contact with the end of the rod to depress the same, substantially as specified.

5. In an apparatus of the character specified, the apron 39 and rollers 29 having cam grooves 33 therein combined with means arranged intermediate the ends of the apron and the rollers, for maintaining the camgrooves in said rollers normally covered, and means for operating said rollers to remove said intermediate covering means to expose the cam-groove in one of said rollers when the apron is wound up upon the other, and preparatory to being again wound up upon the first-named roller having the cam-groove therein exposed, substantially as specified.

6. In an apparatus of the character specified, the combination with an apron-roller ent, flexible strip having one of its longitudinal edges hinged to the roller adjacent to the cam-groove therein, and its other longitudinal edge adapted for securernent to one end of an apron of less width than said resilient, flexible strip, substantially as specified. Signed at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, this 2d day of February, 1898. I a

4 HENRY ALTSHUL. Vitnesses:

JAooB REoHr,

W. LIVINGSTON. 

